News

September 2011

  1. News

    African ministers call for ILO support to boost employment-intensive investments in infrastructure

    07 September 2011

    Ministers from some 13 African countries at the 14th Regional Seminar for Labour Based Practitioners have called on the International Labour Organization (ILO) to boost its cooperation with other international partners to support employment-intensive investments in infrastructure and other sectors.

August 2011

  1. Media Advisory

    XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work: 11-15 September 2011

    17 August 2011

    Some 3,000 policy-makers, experts, industry and labour leaders from over 100 countries are to gather in Istanbul, Turkey, from 11-15 September for the XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work.

  2. News

    ILO Director-General’s expressed concern on trade union developments in Fiji

    08 August 2011

  3. Feature story

    Questions and answers on the hidden reality of children in domestic work

    08 August 2011

    The recently approved ILO Convention No. 189 and Recommendation No. 201 on decent work for domestic workers aim to protect and improve working and living conditions of millions of workers worldwide, who have few – if any – labour rights. Many are children who spend long hours working as domestic helpers, performing tasks such as cleaning, ironing, cooking, minding other children and gardening instead of being at school. ILO News spoke to ILO experts Martin Oelz (TRAVAIL) and José M. Ramírez (IPEC) on the current situation of child domestic workers and how the new Convention and Recommendation can help impact their lives.

July 2011

  1. Article

    South Africa and the ILO team up to promote public employment and community work programmes

    27 July 2011

    With an official unemployment rate of 25 per cent, the South African government knows that employment creation cannot be left to the private sector alone. There is a huge gap between the jobs that are needed and the jobs that the market can generate. The State has the responsibility to fill that gap. Today South Africa has become a prime example of a country where public employment programmes (PEPs) and its Community Work Programme (CWP) are playing a key role in providing a minimum level of employment where markets are failing to do so. The CWP, although not universal in coverage, is being designed to test an employment guarantee.

  2. Article

    The ILO and Manual Scavengers in India: Paving the long way towards the elimination of discrimination based on social origin

    18 July 2011

    For millions of people, contemporary India has become a land of opportunities, and the largest democracy in the world has experienced a remarkable economic growth during the last decade. Yet, as India accelerates its pace towards development, many are left behind due to long standing caste-based discrimination in employment. ILO Online reports from Rajasthan, India.

  3. Article

    Questions and answers on the ILO response to challenges in the Arab World

    08 July 2011

    On 8 July 2011, the International Labour Organization (ILO) hosted a meeting on “The Arab World, Towards a New Era of Social Justice”, which brought together representatives of countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the international community, donors and ILO constituents. A background paper entitled “Challenges in the Arab world: an ILO response” on the ILO’s strategy and response was the basis for the discussions. It provides figures and trends on the employment situation and answers a series of questions around creating decent work opportunities in the region. A series of concept notes was also presented, covering areas where the MENA countries have requested ILO assistance. ILO is developing work in the MENA countries and seeks additional funding for some of these programmes.

  4. Article

    Questions and answers on labour regulation, Decent Work and the economic and jobs crisis

    04 July 2011

    How can labour regulation benefit the economic and labour markets? What is the role of regulation in terms of the challenges and opportunities it affords? How has the recent economic crisis affected regulation of labour markets, and can regulation contribute to economic recovery? These and other questions were on the agenda of the second Conference on the wider meaning of the often misunderstood concept of labour regulation.

June 2011

  1. Press release

    ILO to host high-level conference on the state of labour market regulation

    30 June 2011

    The Second Conference on Regulating for Decent Work will be held on 6-8 July at the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva, with the theme of “Regulating for A Fair Recovery”.

  2. Press release

    New ILO study on Spain urges job-centred policies to consolidate a fragile recovery

    27 June 2011

    Despite encouraging signs that the Spanish economy has begun to emerge from the crisis, a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) examines a range of economic, employment and labour market policies that could consolidate an as yet fragile recovery and start to reduce unemployment.